September 1, 1997
by missuspadfootnmoony
Summary: Neville enters Hogwarts his 7th year. What awaits him there? Journal entry in first person. Response to a Contest on HEXRPG ONESHOT Might continue if interest is there .


Okay...so I haven't wrote anything in a while. And I decided to post something I wrote as an entry for a contest on HEXRPG. So I hope you enjoy. And if you've given up on "A Weasley Love Story" or "Teardrops on My Guitar", don't. I promise I will get back to that. Just, life keeps happening. So. I hope you like this. I'm proud of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hogwarts or any of the characters or spells mentioned. The amazing JK Rowling does.

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September 1, 1997

Hogwarts is not the same.

I started out this entry with that sentence. But as an afterthought, I realize that that is a drastic understatement. On the train up here, Luna, Ginny, Seamus, and I were talking about how Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dean weren't on the train. I mean, where are they? Dean is just gone. Ginny says that Ron has Spattergroit so bad that he couldn't come this year. Well, that's the story. She actually told us, in a low voice, that they were out doing some kind of mission Dumbledore sent them on. But they wouldn't tell her what. Mione's parents have disappeared, according to Gran. The Order hasn't a clue as to what that's all about. And Harry. Well, Harry's gone. But, I'd bet Trevor that the other two are with him.

So, we get to school. And there isn't any sound. None. None of the usual cheering. No one chatting up their friend about the events of the summer. Nothing. Even Peeves has seemed to lay off. In fact, Peeves hasn't been seen all day. He usually "welcomes" us with some kind of prank or trick (or both). But nothing.

But, if possible, that wasn't the strange part. It was the Head Table that had everyone silently pondering. In the seat, usually reserved for Dumbledore, was Professor Snape. Looking even more snarky and more of a git then he usually is. Looking down his ugly, hooked nose at us as if we were the foulest things created. Which, to be honest, to him we probably were. And that made the Great Hall darken so much more. Without Dumbledore, all the hope was sucked out of the Hall.

And even Malfoy seemed down. I don't know if it was his father being dethroned or what. But the nasty ferret actually seemed subdued. The other Slytherins were acting pompous and silently sneering in their normal ways. Only now it was amplified, because they probably knew what was going on. And that seemed to add to their superiority complex. But as I was watching, something seemed to flash across Malfoy's face. Malfoy looked…scared. For that one instance, he looked vulnerable and resembled the creature Professor Moody turned him into all those years ago. But, all that was gone in a second as Crabbe thumped him hard on the back. Malfoy smiled. Something, I noticed didn't reach his eyes.

Then Snape bellowed a sudden "Silence!" to the few people that had braved a chance to hold whispered conversations. When they gasped in surprise, he shot a _Silencio_ charm at them. And then turned back to the subject at hand. As if casting that charm on innocent people was a common occurrence at Hogwarts. He went on to tell us, in a voice that had gotten impossibly colder over the summer, the new outrageous rules. One of which was that laughter was promptly prohibited. And all clubs and Quidditch were disbanded. And for once, no one raised their voices in argument.

Then came the announcement for the new professors. He looked down as a stocky, fat lump of woman stood up. He introduced her as Alecto Carrow. And at that name, a great gasp rose up. To which Snape sent a murderous glare across the Hall, silencing us. He told us that she was the new Muggle Studies professor. At that, she looked at us like we were all dung under her nose. And I could almost feel all the Half-bloods shiver. And I say Half-Bloods because Muggleborns are no longer allowed at school. According to Snape. That got me thinking about Dean and Hermione, again. Was Dean okay? And, then I pointedly wondered what Hermione would be saying if she knew that a Death Eater was teaching wizard children about her Blood (the possibilities actually made my face twist into a small smile).

Snape then turned to his right to a man that greatly resembled the woman. Even from where I was sitting I could tell that he had whiskers all over his face. I immediately thought of a walrus. "And, may I present to you Amycus Carrow," Snape continued with a mock-flair. At this point, I got the hint that he was ridiculing Dumbledore's way of performing of introductions. Something that boiled my blood. "He will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," he finished. At this, I audibly scoffed. _Defense _Against_ the Dark Arts. Ha…as if a _Death Eater_ would teach us how to defend ourselves._

Then Snape lead into the most shocking news of the evening. He told us that any misbehaviour would lead to much more stringent forms of punishment than previously performed. He told us that the Dungeons and torture chambers of the past were now ready and open for us "miscreants who stepped one filthy toe out of line". And then the Slytherins laughed. Laughed! And what did Snape do? Not a crummy thing. His look of disgust transformed into a smirk. Which was as close to a smile as he got. He didn't even punish them. No yelling. No _Silencios_. Nothing. Which just caused me to steam where I sat.

Then Snape reset his look of distaste and told us that "in addition to their teaching duties" (HA!), the Carrows would be in charge of said punishments. And then that male Death Eater laughed in a wheezy, skin-crawling way. Something that made me almost—_almost—_prefer Umbridge's "hem hem".

I'm telling you right now. That I do not care what those supposed "torturers" do to me. They will not break me this year. I can almost hear Gran cheering me on now. Hmm…I think I'm going to write her now. I'd love to see those disgusting Death Eaters' faces if they got a Howler to go along with their porridge and kippers at breakfast.

Okay. I think I can sneak off to the Owlery. Wish me luck!

Neville Longbottom


End file.
